Bridle.



PATENTED DEC. 18, 1906.

H. A. SIEVERT. BRIDLE.

LPPLIUATION FILED JULY 1U. 1905.

` By the ad' HERMANN A. SIEVERT, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

BRIDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

Application filed July 18,1905. Serial No. 270.176.

To all whom, t may cfr/werft.'

Be it known. that I, HERMANN A. Srnvnn'r, a citizen of the United States, of the United States Army, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bridles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention .relates to harness, and more especially to a bridle of that type consisting of but two straps capable of adjustment to accommodate horses of varying sizes and provided with a halter by which the horse can be hitched securely without danger o1" iiijury to the bridle; and my object is to produce a bridle of this character of simple, strong, durable, and cheap construction and which can be repaired when necessary by the substitution of a new for a broken or worn strap or other part without enlisting the servi ices of a harness-maker or other skilled person.

With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a combined bridle and halter embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig, 3 is a fullsize view of the inner side of one of the buckles uniting the two straps of the bridle together. Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV IV of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section on the line V V of Fi 3. lFig. 6 is a section taken on the line I VI of Fig. 2.

In the said drawings 'a stout strap of uni- Y form proportion for its entire length 1s arched at its middle to form the crown-piece 1 and the cheek-straps 2, said strap being provided with two longitudinal series of holes 3, one series only ap caring.

4 indicates uckles adjustably secured on the cheek-straps and provided with rigid tongues 5, rojecting outward through one of a series of oles 6 in their respective straps.

Below said buckles the cheek-straps are doubled back at the inner sides by preference, so as to form loops 7 for engagement with the bit-rings, (not shown the ends of said straps extending through the buckles 4 inward of the body portions of the cheek-straps, said ends being also engaged by the tongues 5. ustment of the buckles u ward or downwar upon the cheek-straps t e length of-the latter may be diminished or increased,

as will be readily understood, and thereby accommodate horses having large or small and a captain heads.

8 indicates loops engaging the doubled portions of the cheek-straps, so as to 'vary the length of the loops 7 and hold the halterstrap hereinafter referred to in the desired position.

A air of two-part buckles each embody a member in the form of a disk 9,1"1tting against the outer side of said strap and provided ccntrally with a hole 10, registering with a hole of one of the series of holes 3 of said strap, and a pair of substantially horizontal loops rigidi carried by and projecting inward from said isk and slidingly engaging said strap. The other memberof the buckle comprises a plate'12, having a central pin or tongue 13 projecting outwardly through the hole in the strap and the registering hole in said disk, and a pair of loops 14 at its opposite or front and rear ends, with loops 14, which project diagonally outward and bear against the inner face of the disk at opposite sides of said strap.-

A strap of uniform ro ortion by preference is bent to form t e row-band 15 and the throat-latch 16, a buckle 17 of the same character as those mounted on the lower ortions of the cheek-straps being secure to one end of the throat-latch and detacbably engaged by the opposite end of said latch, though this buckle, if desired, ma T be of the ordinary pivoted-tongue type. ot shown.) The last-named strap fits slidingly between the disks 9 and the contiguous portions of the first-named stra and extends at right angles to the latter at t e point of intersection, also extending at opposite sides of the last-named strap through the loops 14 of the tongue-can r ing buckle members, the tongues of each of the buckle members extending through one of a series of holes 18 in the combined browband and throat-latch.

If it is desired to increase the size of the crowniece, the ton ue-carrying irfeirbers of saidp two-part buc les are drawn away from their companion irembers until the tongues are freed from both straps. The disks, with the combined brow-band and throat-latch, can then be slid downward on the cheek-straps until the crowniece is of the desired length, the straps w ere they cross each other being resecured reliably together .by returning the tongue-carr ing members of the buckles to their origina po- IIO sitions, but with the tongues extending through different holes 3. lf the crownpiece is to be reduced in size, said two-part buckles are inoved in the opposite direction to that described. 1f the brow-band is to he increased or diminished in size, the saine manipulation of the tongue-carrying meinbeis of the buckles is necessary, so as to perinit the combined brow-band and throatlatch strap to be slid through the loops 14; of said tongue-carrying ineinbers until the desired holes register with the holes of the disks and the combined crown-piece and cheekstraps. The length of the combined browband and throat-latch strap i'nay, as above suggested, be increased or dii'ninislied by the engagenzent of the tongue of the buckle 17 with differentholes in said. strap.

From the above description it will be aparent that I have produced a bridle consisting of two straps, which can be easily and quickly varied in size to accommodate horses having large or small heads, and that because of the uniformity in theiproportions of the straps said bridle is of uniform strength throughout.

19 indicates a nose-strap forming the halter-stra and is of advantage in connection with this bridle because it provides a convenient ireans for hitching the horse, it being well known aniong equestrians that the hitching of horses by the reins of the ordinary riding-bridle is the principal reason why so inany bridles are broken and cause of injury to the horses mouth. This halterstrap extends through the doubled lower portions of the cheek-straps above loops 8, the latter serving to keep the halter-strap froin slipping down upon the bit-rings, hereinbefore referred to. The ends of the halter or nose strap are secured together preferably by means of a rigid tongue-buckle 2O of the character hereinbefore described, and in order that there shall be no danger of said buckle becoming lost when the ends of the strap are not secured together one end of the strap is riveted7 as at 2l, to the base or central portion of the buckle. (Shown in Figs. 1 and 6.)

The halter or nose strap, like the other straps, is adjustable in length to accommodate the size of the horses head by causing different holes 22 in the detachable end of the strap to engage the tongue of the buckle. It will be apparent that when the halter is attached to the halter-strap in the usual or i any preferred manner there is no strain iinl posed. on the bridle to dislodge or injure it and that the horse therefore can be hitched without possibilit)T of escape unless said nose or halter strap breaks, the tongue of the halter-strap buckle projecting so far through the adjustable end of the l'ialter-strap that no pull upon the latter will dislodge it, it being also understood that the tongue projects outwardly, so that it shall not press against the horse.

liroin the above description it will be apparent that l have produced a bridle possessing the features of advantage enumerated as desirable.

Having thus described the invention, what I claiin as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1 A bridle, comprising a strap forniing the crown-piece and cheek-straps, a second strap crossing the first and forming the brow-band and throat-latch, and buckles securing said straps together at their crossing-points, and each consisting of a member fitting against one of said straps provided with a hole and with loops at opposite sides of said hole through which said strap extends, and a secondL member having loops through which the other .strap extends and provided with a tongue extending through both straps and through the 'first-named inernber.

2. A bridle, comprising a strap forming the crown-piece and cheek-straps, a second strap crossing the first and forming the brow-band and throat-latch, said straps having longitudinal series of holes at their crossing-points, and buckles connecting said crossed straps together, each buckle consisting of a plate or disk fitting against the outer sides of said straps and provided with a central hole and with inwardly-projecting loops embracing the rst-naired strap and disposed above and below the other strap, and a rneniber fitting against the inner side of the first-named strap and provided with loops projecting outwardly and beyond the edges of said strap and engaging the other strap, and provided also with a central ton ue or stud projecting through registering ho es in said straps and through the hole of the first-named member of the buckle.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HERMANN A. sirivERT.

Witnesses:

H. C. RoDGERs, G. Y. THORPE.

IOC 

